Georgia To Face No. 25/21 Vandy In Nashville

Wednesday, February 25

Nashville, Tenn.

7:00

University of Georgia

Vanderbilt

February 24, 2026 | Men's Basketball

Game Notes

Georgia Basketball Game Notes

Georgia (19-8, 7-7 SEC) vs. No. 25/21 Vanderbilt (21-6, 8-6)
Date: Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: Memorial Gymnasium (14,316)
Location: Nashville, Tenn.
TV: SEC Network (Mike Morgan, play-by-play; Rodney Terry, analyst)
Streaming: SECN+
Radio: Georgia Bulldog Network; Sirius 381 (Scott Howard, play-by-play; Chuck Dowdle, analyst; Adam Gillespie, producer)
Tickets: www.georgiadogs.com/mbbtix

The Starting 5

Georgia looks to continue to build momentum following back-to-back wins over a pair of projected NCAA Tournament teams last week – Kentucky and Texas – when the Bulldogs travel to Nashville to face No. 25/21 Vanderbilt on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
The Bulldogs are one victory shy of posting three straight 20-win seasons for just the third time ever. It would be UGA's 16th 20-win tally...but only the sixth time reaching that plateau in the regular season.
Georgia entered this week leading the nation in percentage of field goals that are dunks at 18.5 percent (167 of 842 FGs). Individually, Somto Cyril was tied as nation's top dunker with 71 rim rattlers.
During the Texas win, Somto Cyril passed the 100 FG minimum to qualify for UGA's single-season records. He is shooting a school-record 74.6 percent, 10.3 percent better than the previous mark.
Blue Cain, who is 35 points of 1,000 for his career, is the only Bulldog to start every game this season. He has now started 68 straight contests dating back to the last eight outings of his freshman year.

Keeping An Eye On…

Entering Today's Game - Among UGA's Career Leaders

Blue Cain is...
• 6 3-pointers from No. 15 Jabri Abdur-Rahim
• 9 3-pointers from co-No. 13s Ty Wilson and Ray Harrison
• 19 3-point attempts from No. 12 Ray Harrison
• 35 points from becoming UGA's 49th 1,000-point scorer and the first since Yante Mateo in 2017
Somto Cyril is...
• 1 blocks from No. 10 Chris Daniels
• 2 blocks from No. 9 Marcus Thornton
• 5 blocks from co-No. 7 Willie Anderson and Nicolas Clayton
• 18 blocks from No. 6 Donte Williams

Entering Today's Game - Among UGA's Season Leaders

Somto Cyril is...
• 9 blocks from No. 6 Lavon Mercer ('80)
• 14 blocks from No. 5 Nicolas Clayton ('19)

The Opening Tip

Georgia looks to continue to build late-season momentum on Wednesday when it treks to Nashville to face No. 25/21 Vanderbilt at 7:00 p.m. ET. The Bulldogs are coming off back-to-back victories over projected NCAA Tournament teams.

Last Tuesday, Georgia defeated Kentucky, 86-78, to earn just its fifth win in 45 trips to Rupp Arena. The Bulldogs returned to Stegeman Coliseum on Saturday to top Texas, 91-80, before a boisterous sellout crowd.

Georgia now finds itself one victory shy of its third-consecutive 20-win campaign, a feat the Bulldogs have only accomplished twice in 120 seasons of competition (also from 1996-98 and 2014-16).

According to bracketmatrix.com, Georgia is a unanimous pick for the NCAA Tournament, with the Bulldogs appearing in all 112 projections for "March Madness" by various bracketologists as of Monday.

Georgia's statistical resume for the 2025-26 campaign is quite impressive.

As of Monday, the Bulldogs led all 365 D-I programs in both fastbreak points (20.9 ppg) and blocks (6.4 bpg) and also were ranked among the top-10 nationally in scoring (No. 4 at 90.2 ppg) and bench points (No. 10 at 34.1 ppg).

Georgia has a deep rotations playing at a pace among the country's quickest.

Eleven Bulldogs are averaging double-figure minutes, and they have combined to record 111 double-figure scoring outputs this season. Jeremiah Wilkinson is averaging a team-high 17.3 ppg, while Blue Cain is contributing 13.8 ppg, Marcus "Smurf" Millender is chipping in 12.2 ppg and Kanon Catchings is adding 10.7 ppg.

The Bulldogs entered this week ranked in the top 15 of the oft-used metric KenPom.com in both average offensive possession length (No. 10 at 15.3) and adjusted tempo (No. 15 at 71.6).

Scouting The Commodores

Vanderbilt has been one of college basketball's top stories this season, climbing into the top-10 of both polls after racing to a 16-0 start and being one of Division I's last undefeated teams until Jan. 14. The Commodores enter Wednesday's game at 21-6 overall and 8-6 in SEC play.

Tyler Tanner leads a potent offensive attack for Vandy, averaging 18.5 points and 5.2 assists per game. Tanner is ranked among the SEC top-5 leaders in no less than five statistics – No. 1 in steals, No. 3 in assists, No. 4 in assist-to-turnover ratio and No. 5 in both scoring and free throw percentage.

Duke Miles, who last Saturday against Tennessee returned to action following a seven-game gap in PT due to a knee injury, averages 16.4 ppg. Tyler Nickel and Dexter McGlockton also produce points at double-digit rates of 14.3 ppg and 10.4 ppg, respectively.

Series History With Vandy

Vanderbilt owns a 95-58 lead in the all-time series between the Bulldogs and the Commodores.

In last season's regular-season finale on March 8, a balanced attack with four double-digit Bulldogs led Georgia in a 79-68 win over Vanderbilt before a sellout crowd at Stegeman Coliseum.

Seniors Tyrin Lawrence and Dakota Leffew were keys to the win. Lawrence, a former Commodore, scored nine first-half points and Leffew put up all of his 14 points following intermission, including 10 in a 15-0 run to ice the victory.

The win capped a four-game winning streak to finish the regular season that locked up the Bulldogs' first NCAA Tournament bid in a decade.

The Bulldogs' most recent trip to Nashville was on Feb. 21, 2024 when Noah Thomasson scored all of his team-high 17 points in the first half to lead Georgia in a 76-64 win.

The Bulldogs opened up a double-digit lead midway through the first period and never allowed Vanderbilt closer than 10 points thereafter. The margin eventually bulged to 23 points.

Georgia shot 52.8 percent from the floor, the Bulldogs' best performance in an SEC game during Mike White's first two seasons in Athens.

Last Time Out

Georgia started quickly and then withstood a furious rally attempt to defeat Texas, 91-80, last Saturday before a capacity crowd at Stegeman Coliseum.

The Bulldogs raced to a 17-point, 26-9 lead less than 12 minutes into the game and maintained a double-figure edge at halftime. Marcus "Smurf" Millender paced Georgia in the opening 20 minutes with 13 points on a perfect 5-of-5 effort from the field, including 3-of-3 from 3-point range.

The Longhorns eventually knotted the game at 67-67 with 7:37 remaining before consecutive buckets from Justin Abson within just 73 seconds put the Bulldogs up 71-67 and ignited a 24-13 surge to finish the afternoon.

"We put together a pretty good 40 today," head coach Mike White said. "They're really talented. They're resilient, really physical. They've got really good length defensively. They've got good speed. (We) got off to a really good start, with our intensity level. We talked a lot with our guys these last couple days about the fact that, we're coming off a game when we played with a lot of edge in Lexington. We were really, really competitive. We haven't always seen that."

Bulldogs Searching For Third-Straight 20-Win Campaign

With consecutive wins over Kentucky and Texas, Georgia finds itself one victory shy of reaching the 20-win plateau for a third-straight season.

Over 120 seasons, Georgia has only posted three straight 20-win tallies just twice – from 1996-98 and from 2014-16. Only 12 Bulldogs have ever played on three 20-win teams – five from 1996-98 and seven between 2014-16. That fraternity could initiate a quintet of new members this season in Blue Cain, Dylan James, Brandon Klatsky, Jaden Newell and Markel Jennings.

Georgia has produced 15 20-win efforts overall but only six of those teams did so during the regular season, doing so in 1931, 1986, 1997, 2011, 2015 and a year ago.

Georgia One Swat From Record

The Bulldogs have blocked 174 shots this season, one shy of Georgia's season record of 175 rejections established during the 2015-16 campaign.

That record is no surprise considering the Bulldogs have led the nation in swats per game pretty much since rejecting 24 opponent attempts in the first three contests of the season.

Georgia Has Been Solid Away From Stegeman

The Bulldogs are 7-4 in games away from Athens this season, including a 5-3 mark in true road outings. That road success was initiated with a 107-73 thumping of Florida State in the ACC/Challenge and has continued with SEC victories at South Carolina, Missouri, LSU and Kentucky.

With a victory at Vanderbilt or Mississippi State, Georgia would secure both its first winning record in road games and in SEC road contests since 2015 when the Bulldogs were 8-4 on opponents' home floors, including a 6-3 mark against league competition.

Georgia Putting Up Points At A Record-Breaking Pace

The Bulldogs are well on their way to shattering the program's all-time scoring record.

Georgia is currently averaging 90.2 points per game 27 contests into the campaign, an extremely healthy 7.5 ppg better than the Bulldogs' current best-ever effort of 82.7 ppg en route to winning the 1990 SEC Championship.

Those Bulldogs scored 2,399 points over 29 games. During 27th contest of this season against Texas, Georgia passed that mark and now has 2,435 points.

Familiar Faces On The "Other" Bench

Vanderbilt assistant coach Matt Bucklin and athletic trainer Lance Schuemann are former members of the Georgia program.

Bucklin spent 10 seasons at Georgia. He was a four-year letterwinner between 2008-12, joining the program as a walk-on before earning a scholarship for his junior and senior season. Bucklin then served as a graduate assistant from 2012-14 and was operations coordinator from 2014-18. During his decade in Athens, the Bulldogs earned five postseason bids, with appearances in the 2011 and 2015 NCAA Tournaments and the 2014, 2016 and 2017 NITs.

Schuemann joined the Georgia staff as the Bulldogs' athletic trainer in 2018 and spent six seasons in that role. He continues to be known to have the best beard in the SEC.

Somto Shatters UGA's FG Percentage Mark

During his 5-of-7 night from the field against Texas, Somto Cyril met the 100 FG made minimum tally to qualify for Georgia's single-season leaders' ledger...and now has shattered the Bulldogs' previous best effort.

The sophomore from Enugu, Nigeria has now connected on 74.6 percent (103-of-138) of his shots from the field this season – 10.3 percent better than the previous record by a Bulldog as outlined below.

Almost unfathomably, Cyril could miss his next 22 shots and would still own the record.

Rank	Player, Season	Pct.
Season Top-5
1.	Somto Cyril, '25-26	.746
2.	Lavon Mercer, '78-79	.643
3.	Braelen Bridges, '21-22	.634
4.	Bob Lienhard, '69-70	.632
5.	Lavon Mercer, '79-80	.611

Dunkyard Dawgs, Cyril Lead The Nation In Slams

According to BartTorvik.com, Georgia entered this week leading the nation in percentage of its field goals that have been dunks at 18.5 – 167 of 842 the Bulldogs' FGs this season – as outlined below

Somto Cyril's 71 dunks is tied for the most in the nation and is a whopping 30 more than any other SEC player. Kareem Stagg is second among Bulldogs with 19 dunks; followed by Jake Wilkins with 18; Jeremiah Wilkinson with 13; Justin Abson, Blue Cain, Kanon Catchings all with 12; and Dylan James with 10.

Rank	Team	Pct.
Dunking It
1.	Georgia	18.5
2.	N. Carolina	16.9
3.	Duke	15.9
4.	Florida	15.7
5.	Arkansas	15.6
6.	Kansas	15.2
	Michigan	15.2
8.	Indiana	15.1
9.	Kentucky	14.3
10.	Providence	14.2

Dogs Among Top Scoring Teams In Several Ways

Georgia entered this week ranked No. 4 in D-I in scoring offense at 90.2 points per game.

Much of Georgia's production has come either in a hurry or while standing still.

The Bulldogs lead the country in fastbreak points (20.9 ppg) and are No. 25 free throws made (18.4 ppg). That equates to roughly 43.6 percent (39.3 of 90.2 ppg) of Georgia's offensive output.

Georgia's scoring has been consistent. In 54 halves of hoops, the Bulldogs scored 40 or more points 41 times, with 11 50-point periods and three segments of 60 or more points.

Georgia played 102 games in Mike White's first three seasons in Athens. The Bulldogs reached 90 points nine times and 100 points twice. In 27 games this season, Georgia has topped 90 points in 13 outings and surpassed the century mark in a school-record seven contests.

Smurf's Game Gets Bigger

After a slow start early in the season, Marcus "Smurf" Millender has nearly doubled his production and shooting efficiency over the last 22 games.

Millender averaged 6.8 points in Georgia's first five games, but is nearly doubling that to 13.4 ppg since. He connected on just 26.2 percent (11-of-42) overall and 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from 3-point range in the first five games, but has upped those tallies o 51.5 percent (102-of-198) overall and 44.2 percent (46-of-104) on 3-pointers thereafter.

Millender has now put up double-digit scoring tallies in 17 of 22 games and distributed five or more assists in nine of those contests. At Kentucky, he delivered eight assists – the single-game high of any Bulldog this season – while committing just one turnover

The stretch includes two dramatic game winners. Millender canned a clutch 3-pointer with 11 seconds left against Xavier in the opening round of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic on Nov. 21 and converted a three-point play with 5.5 seconds left at Missouri on Jan. 20.

Somto Surging On Blocks Ledgers

Somto Cyril, who was named to the 2026 Naismith Men's College Defensive Player of the Year Watch List the Atlanta Tipoff Club in January, is quickly climbing on Georgia's single-season and career leaders lists for blocked shots.

In 27 contests this season, the Enugu, Nigeria native has already blocked 67 shots. That's the No. 7 season mark by a Bulldog.

Cyril's numbers are bolstered two career-high outputs in SEC play – six against Auburn and eight versus Arkansas.

In 33 games last season, Cyril swatted 51 shots, which was then UGA's 11th-best tally and the second-most by a Georgia freshman.

Cyril's 117 total rejections rank No. 11 among Georgia's career leaders, one shy of the top-10.

Dogs' Dishing, Ball Control Much Better

Mike White has called the 2025-26 Bulldogs one of the better passing teams he's coached.

A year ago, the Bulldogs ranked No. 262 nationally in assists per game at 12.5 and No. 298 in assist-to-turnover ratio at 0.96. This season, Georgia entered this week well over 100 spots better in each stat – No. 122 in assists (14.9 apg) and No. 90 in assist-to-turnovers (1.39).

A large part of that is the performance of the four guards Georgia added via the transfer portal during the offseason – Justin Bailey, Marcus "Smurf" Millender, Jordan Ross and Jeremiah Wilkinson. That quartet has delivered a combined 235 passes-to-points while committing just 117 turnovers – equating to 8.7 apg and a stellar ratio of 2.01 assists-to-TOs.

Cain Joins UGA's Free Throw Leaders

Blue Cain has met the minimums to be included in Georgia's single-season and career leaders in free throw percentage.

The minimum to qualify for Georgia's career free throw leaders percentage leaders is 125 made attempts, which Cain achieved with two free throws at Florida on Jan. 6. Cain is now 143-of-171 and his 83.6 conversion rate is now the second-best ever by a Bulldog.

The minimum to qualify for Georgia's single-season free throw percentage leaders is 50 made attempts, which Cain reached with two makes at South Carolina on Jan. 19. Cain is currently 67-of-75 and his 89.3 conversion rate is the third-best ever by a Bulldog.

Double-Digit Dogs' Have Hit Double Figures

No less than 10 different Georgia Bulldogs recorded double-figure scoring outputs in the first five games of the season. Those Dogs have now combined to produce 111 double-digit performances.

Blue Cain leads that pack at 21 contests, followed by Jeremiah Wilkinson with 20; Smurf Millender with 18; Kanon Catchings with 13; Somto Cyril with 12; Jordan Ross with seven; Jake Wilkins with five; Dylan James with four; Justin Bailey and Kareem Stagg both with three.

Resilient Dogs Rally From Double-Digit Deficits

Georgia certainly didn't look like it was headed to a double-figure victory at LSU on Feb. 7 when the Bulldogs trailed by 15 points just after the midway point of the first half in Baton Rouge.

After falling behind 31-16, Georgia outscored the Tigers 67-40 the rest of the way.

That marked the fourth game this season the Bulldogs overcame a double-digit scoring gap en route to victory, also doing so against Cincinnati, LIU and South Carolina.

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